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Monday, March 19, 2012

Misinformed Indian Muslims

Rushdie spoke in Delhi without event, proving the fearful second-guessers wrong
Salman Rushdie came to a conclave in Delhi, he spoke his piece, he
left. Listening to his words did not cause the audience to spontaneously
combust. He delivered his familiar use-it-or-lose-it speech on freedom,
denounced votebank politics and religious bigotry, insulted a few
politicians, estimated how many Muslims really cared about his presence.
The lack of drama and special effects around his talk only showed up
how empty all the fuss in Jaipur was.
The Jaipur literary festival controversy had a strange, rehearsed
and stop-start quality to it — some Muslim groups were reportedly livid
at the idea of Rushdie being invited, and threatened violence. The
state government seemed weak-willed, the organisers shared their
anxieties with Rushdie, and he finally stayed away. However, the Rushdie
issue swallowed up the festival. Others championed his cause, some of
them defiantly reading from The Satanic Verses — until the repercussions
loomed too big to take on. As it appeared that Rushdie would not even
be allowed to speak via videoconference, the surrender seemed abject —
India, it seemed, was shamefully incapable of engaging with any writing
that struck sparks. Political parties that thought they were competing
for the Muslim vote made sure to register their intolerance of Rushdie —
to the extent that the state could not even guarantee his security.
Salman Rushdie, in their account, was the ultimate red rag to the
believers, his presence was an invitation to trouble.
His Delhi visit dissolved all of those ideas, and revealed how
entirely manufactured these controversies are, and how they
misunderstand what Indian citizens care about. We need to see more of
Rushdie in India, to bring him back to human proportions — an individual
who can be heard and argued with, not he-who-must-not-be-named. Those
who disagree have the right to stay away, without denying others the
pleasure of engaging with Salman Rushdie.

Acclaimed writer Salman Rushdie,
author of the controversial "The Satanic Verses" as also bestsellers
like "Midnight's Children" and "Shame", Saturday denounced "disgraceful
vote bank politics" being practised in the country and said "95 per cent
of Muslims in India are not interested in violence being done in their
name".
Returning to India two months after he was stopped
from attending the Jaipur Literary Festival, Rushdie spoke at the
concluding dinner at the two-day India Today Conclave at the Taj Palace
Hotel here.

Marhaba/Khushamadeed/Welcome

Dear visitor,If you recognize the following pictures then you are at home. If not then you are welcome as a guest. Here you'll find some tidbits related to some thing called Aligarh Movement with a tilt towards issues related to Science in Islamic context.